Basford move into fast lane
BASFORD are using their new £64,500 showpiece courts to move into the fast lane by announcing they are to join the Volkswagen Ratings Tournament circuit for the first time.
They are the first North Staffordshire club to have artificial grass courts and have just resurfaced two more all-weather hard courts, as well as increasing their floodlighting.
Club spokesman Derek Newport said Basford are now keen to up their image: "We are trying to improve the profile of the club and now feel we have facilities we can be proud of. So the committee decided we could draw more attention by holding a ratings tournament."
They have opted to stage the event in October when county and city and suburban league matches have finished and before the international winter competition gets underway. Their decision puts them alongside the elite band of ten other Staffs. clubs promoting the singles tournament.
Boost
The club's chief attraction are the two artificial grass courts which have already boosted membership. The aim is to convert the rest to the eagerly sought-after surface when they can afford it.
Tournament organisers hope to draw in enough competitors to split the men and women into three-tier sections. British ranked 17 and Staffordshire number one Alison Smith has indicated she intends entering.
She recently pulled off a major coup in the opening round of the LTA women's Satellite Tournament in Sunderland by dismissing the number three seed Pavlina Rajzlova 7-5, 6-3. Having ousted the Czechoslovakian, Smith then faltered and went out 6-2, 7-6 to Frenchwoman Audrey Sidot.
Stoke star Andrew Foster is continuing on the trail for world ranking points. He lost badly to Mark Petchey at Eastbourne, going down 6-3, 6-0 but then excelled in the doubles competition with partner Danny Sapsford. Foster, ranked eight in Great Britain, and Sapsford reached the final of the Satellite event, but were beaten by fellow-Britons Nick Brown and junior player Tim Henman.
Evening Sentinel, 01 March 1993
Courtesy of The Sentinel News & Media